Mariners’ youngsters don’t have a veteran to lean on
May 29, 2012, 4:32 PM | Updated: 4:33 pm
By 710Sports.com staff
Mike Blowers got his first chance to be an everyday player in 1993 when Edgar Martinez injured his hamstring during an exhibition game.
Blowers, who was 28 at the time but had never played more than 50 games in any of his four MLB seasons, didn’t need to look far for advice.
“I had Lou Piniella, who for me is the best manager I’ve ever been around. [He] would talk to me on a daily basis [about] things he would want to see from me. Lee Elia was a good hitting coach. But I had Edgar Martinez talk to me about what the pitcher was going to do, what he likes to do when he’s in trouble, what his out-pitch is going to be and how he was going to approach me as a hitter,” Blowers told “Bob and Groz” on Tuesday.
“That’s invaluable. I would take that and go, ‘This is Edgar Martinez. He’s already won two batting titles. This is one of the best hitters I’ve ever seen and this is what he’s giving me.’ And if I was having mechanical problems, yeah, I’d go work with Lee Elia, but I certainly would talk to Edgar about it. I could talk to Tino Martinez about it. I could talk to Jay [Buhner].”
As Bob Stelton and Dave Grosby explain in the video below, these Mariners don’t have that guy.
You can download Tuesday’s podcast here.
